Data Protection the Most Urgent Priority for Chinese Finance: Sichuan Province Fintech Association

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The head of the peak research body for the fintech sector in Sichuan province has highlighted the critical importance of shoring up data security in the Chinese financial system.

“The protection of data security has already become the most urgent task for the financial sector,” said Zhang Xiaomei (张晓玫), head and chief economist for the Sichuan Province Fintech Academy (四川省金融科技学会), at the 12th Shuronghui Forum (蜀融汇) held on 3 June.

“Various policies and trends all indicate that protecting data security has already become a key issue faced by social development. 

“The positive growth of fintech cannot be separated from upgrades and reform of basic data security technology, cannot be separated from the formulation of secure application standards for fintech enterprise data, and is even more closely bound to the top-level design and prudential regulation conducted by policy and regulatory bodies. 

“All parties must jointly contribute to the establishment of data security on a path that will be long and hard.”

Over the past several years the Chinese central government has adopted measures to step up standardisation and regulation of data usage by fintech companies and other Internet concerns. 

In June 2017, the “People’s Republic of China Online Security Law” (中华人民共和国网络安全法) was officially promulgated, clearly stipulating that Internet operators must “prevent online data disclosures and tampering,” and that “no individuals or organisations are permitted to steal Internet data.”

In May 2018 the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued the “Guidelines for the Data Handling of Banking Sector Financial Institutions,” requiring that banks gather and make use of data in accordance with regulatory provisions, as well as improve data security technology.